Lies or Illusions?

Shufen had drawn his sword beside her, ready to attack when he summoned the Dews of Heaven, but nothing could prepare her for the totally empty room they had met.

The old man had somehow vanished from where he lay, she had left him right there! She could still remember the moment when he attacked her and she hit him instead, It wasn't a dream,  neither was she hallucinating.

"He was....he was right there! I left him there and i'm sure of it."

The surprised look on his face matched hers, she was as confused as he was, Liling shuffled through the entire room, rummaging and searching frantically, the almost frustrated woman panting when she paced

The small bamboo windows could barely fit his body even if he had planned to escape through there, the darned man would have been stuck.

"Liling, Liling!" Shufen jerked her body in an attempt to slap some sense of sanity back into her, the woman standing right in front of him was confused and restless, "He's not here! He's not. There's no way the Innkeeper would have attacked you."

She yanked herself away from him, pain and hurt evident on her face. "Do you think that I would lie about such a thing?!"

"I don't! I  believe someone must have attacked you like you claimed but it just wasn't the Innkeeper."

He slapped a hand over his face, there was no trace of a demon's presence but he still felt a surge of energy from her room.

"I met him on my way to your room, there was an unusual surge of qi from here and it wasn't from you, or Daiyu. She had gone with the others to cultivate on the mount's peak not too far from here and I am familiar with your Qi to know what I felt, wasn't yours."

She sagged to the floor with her back pressed against the wall, she blamed herself, she had grown weak over a short span of time, her lack of Qi cultivation had lessed her perception of things and she couldn't even identify an intruder.

Shufen had been their team leader and had watched her grow in strength and size under his care. The once resilient human from the mortal realm had now been reduced to a shivering mess of fear and self-doubt.

Her reason for joining the team and fighting her way through to earn her a position as the Fifth was to rid the world of demons, protect the clans of seal bearers and restore peace back to the realms. But how could she ever be a bringer of peace, if she could not even bring peace to herself?

Shufen, growing tired of watching her wallow in her dismay with her face buried in her palm, he walked closer to her, crouched low, jerking her upwards and lifting her body so he hoisted her on his shoulders. Liling shrieked at his abrupt move, yelping and hitting him him hard on the back.

"Let me go, Shufen!"

She exclaimed but he would not budge, walking out of the Inn through the backdoor with her held firmly on his shoulders, "Stay still. I need to check on something. Your Qi is blocked and if you're going to continue with the team, you need to fix that."

She continued to flail in his arms, disobeying his orders, "Why do I have to be on your shoulders to unlock my Qi? Put me down!"

He nearly laughed at her tantrums, glad she was no longer sulking, helping her restore her Qi was the least that he could do and to do that, he had to help her cultivate, or get into her mind's eye to find out the cause of her lack of Qi flow.    

"Look, I just want to help, okay? I promise I won't do anything stupid, okay?"

She huffed, stilling in his arms, not that she did not trust the team leader to not do anything, but she had nearly died from the embarrassment of being tossed over his shoulders like she weighed nothing.

Using the lightness technique, he floated through the air, travelling from the Inn to the forest just north of the Inn.

Eventually stopping at the edge of a lake that glowed luminously, the full moon casting it's silvery hues on the forest, then his feet touched the ground and he slowly let her down his shoulders, while she faltered.

"You didn't need to carry me all the way here, you know."

He nodded in agreement, his lips curling back in a smug grin, the glow in his eyes intensifying by the minute, "I didn't have to, but, I wanted to."

Liling struggled to calm the excitement that was beginning to rise inside of her. She had been with Shufen for so long!

Why was her cheeks suddenly reddening from their close contact! He leaned forward, his gaze scrutinizing her when he observed the velvety color that was beginning to spread across her skin, he gave a knowing smile, then he did the unimaginable;

In one swift, practiced movement, he undid the knots of the silk robe he had on, leaving him in his undergarment. She gawked, eyes growing as wide as saucers she let out a squeak, turning on her heels and backing away from him.

"What are you doing?! Why are you.....suddenly taking your.....clothes off in the middle of nowhere?!"

Gripping her shoulders, he turned her to face him, "Why? Are you scared I might do something?" Shufen snickered,

"This....You shouldn't...we're....you can't just show yourself to me! What happened to chastity?!"

He tilted his head back, laughter rumbling through his chest when his eyes held a mischievous glint in them, Liling tried to break free from his hold, nearly stumbling when his hands managed to hold onto her before she could slip, their faces merely inches away.

Her eyes snapped shut on their own accord in an attempt to avoid his gaze.

"Do I look like a man of morals?" he rasped, his breath warm breath fanning against her skin.